So here I am, contemplating starting up the consulting business again, and also looking at dusting off the potential product line that's been pretty much on hold (with one family crisis or another) since summer of 2017.
Gonna need PC boards fabricated at some point. The original Gadget designs were 2-sided to save money, but in the meantime overseas fab costs came way down, and going to 4-layer designs would significantly improve noise immunity, allow for more efficient layouts, and open up some options when it comes to things like electrical isolation.
Well... most of those cheap prototype PCB fab services are in China. One that I've used in the past is, I think, in Singapore, though I'm not sure that's where the actual factory is. The one I was planning to try for the next non-urgent project is in Hong Kong... which is now being assimilated. The ones in the U.S. and Europe tend to run pricey - as in, maybe I could use their service if it were somebody else's money, but for a speculative prototype or a small production run of a modest-price-point product, forget it. Also, the ones that are even vaguely plausible on price tend not to handle small feature sizes.
So, back to looking around for options. The one in Singapore should be OK for now. I have a vague recollection of a fab service in Bulgaria from years back, but I don't recall who they were and don't know if they're still in business, let along what their current capabilities might be.
... Oh, and a year ago I was looking at setting up my own small-volume SMT assembly line, using equipment made, of course, in China. Dunno what the availability of such things will be once I have a place to put them. At one point, there were several Americans prototyping that sort of equipment in their basements, but I'm guessing that the flurry of ready-to-run Chinese products may have kept them from going from hobby project to business. Then there's the prospect of populating the barn, once we have the opportunity to transform it into a workshop, with machine tools... which, the past many years, the ones in my price range have come from Guess Where.
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